Chapter Summaries

The master returned with his eyes mutilated and attacked Zheng Rong, while black fog began invading the castle and forced the players to flee. As Bo Yi followed the others out, his doll secretly ate a wisp of the deadly fog.

• Zhao Wen Shan feared the master was immortal, but Zhao Yi explained that his changed appearance showed he had not been resurrected unchanged.
• Zheng Rong approached the master, who slashed his arm with a knife and pursued him when Bo Yi told him to run outside.
• Bo Yi showed the others that black fog had surrounded the castle and was seeping into their rooms, where it rapidly consumed Zhao Yi's fingertip.
• The group decided to leave before the fog spread into the corridor, and Bo Yi followed them after inspecting the fog.
• Bo Yi's doll secretly scooped up a wisp of black fog, put it in his mouth, and happily chewed it.

Bo Yi was chased through the castle by the master while Pan Lulu tried to turn Zheng Rong against him. Pan Lulu headed upstairs to help the master finish his work before the banquet.

• Bo Yi ran from the master, whose pursuit seemed to drain his stamina and slow him down, and slipped into a room on the third floor after his doll snagged on a door handle.
• Zheng Rong emerged from beneath the stairs, where he had been hiding with his wound, and encountered Pan Lulu.
• Pan Lulu claimed that Bo Yi and the Zhao siblings were hiding an important clue and suggested Bo Yi had used Zheng Rong as bait to draw the master away.
• After Zheng Rong left in a daze, Pan Lulu recalled learning what materials the master wanted and went upstairs to help him complete his new work before the banquet.

The master of the house searched the bedroom for Bo Yi while Bo Yi hid inside the wardrobe, and Pan Lulu tried to expose the hiding place by tossing pebbles. The master vanished, then appeared behind Pan Lulu with a raised blade.

• The master of the house searched the bedroom, checking behind the curtains, beneath the bed, and inside the wardrobe for his guest.
• Bo Yi stayed hidden among the dresses in the wardrobe as the master began to leave the room.
• Pan Lulu tossed pebbles at the wardrobe door to draw the master's attention to Bo Yi's hiding place.
• Pan Lulu noticed the master had vanished and wondered whether Bo Yi had killed him.
• The master appeared behind Pan Lulu and raised his blade, then blood splashed across their intertwined shadows.

Bo Yi escaped the master’s pursuit through the bloodied house, then discovered that fitting the master’s eyes into a hidden Butler Doll could make the master vanish. The chapter ended with the knife dropping and the master disappearing just before he struck Bo Yi.

• Bo Yi found a hidden, eyeless Butler Doll in the wardrobe, but the red-eyed doll refused to let him put it in his pocket.
• The master caught Bo Yi at the wardrobe, so Bo Yi threw a dress over his face and fled with the Butler Doll.
• Bo Yi ran through the blood-soaked corridor, collided with Zheng Rong, and warned him that the master was coming after them with a knife.
• Zheng Rong tried to stab Bo Yi from behind, but Bo Yi dodged; the Butler Doll fell, and Zheng Rong fled ahead.
• As the master closed in, Bo Yi realized the Butler Doll and the master’s eyes might be connected, then fitted the eyes into the doll’s sockets.
• The master’s knife stopped just short of Bo Yi, fell to the floor, and the master vanished.

Bo Yi rejoined the players after the master apparently became a Butler Doll, while Pan Lulu was dead and Zheng Rong had fled. When the banquet began, the group discovered the hall full of silent guests with closed eyes, whom Bo Yi recognized from behind the storage room’s iron door.

• Zhao Wen Shan and the other players gathered around Bo Yi, who told them that the master had killed Pan Lulu and that Zheng Rong had run off.
• The players wondered whether the master would revive and whether the banquet could proceed without him.
• Six bell tolls rang, the castle lit up, and Bo Yi led the group toward the banquet hall.
• The players found the hall packed with silent, pale guests whose eyes were closed, and the guests all turned toward them.
• Bo Yi told Zhao Yi that the guests had been behind the iron door in the storage room.

Bo Yi and the others discovered that the castle guests were dolls and realized the girl in the chair wanted a new doll for the banquet. When the Butler Doll disappeared and the dolls attacked, Bo Yi figured out the girl wanted eyes, but the chapter ended before they could give them to her.

• Zhao Wen Shan recognized the guests as dolls after Bo Yi pointed out their familiar clothes.
• Bo Yi concluded that the girl in the chair wanted a doll for the master's banquet display.
• Bo Yi found the corridor empty of both the Butler Doll and the master's blade, and suspected the master had left as a doll.
• Four armed servants and the guests attacked the players as they tried to leave the corridor.
• Bo Yi realized that the girl wanted eyes after Zhao Yi noted that her eyes were closed.

Bo Yi realized the castle’s paintings concealed the eyes needed by the eyeless girl and began searching them with the Detector. As the group dug through the hidden eye containers, black fog spread toward the gallery.

• Bo Yi concluded that the eyes were hidden in the gallery’s paintings and led the group there through the attacking dolls.
• Bo Yi and Zhao Yi cut open a portrait despite the paintings’ death condition, revealing countless pairs of eyes stored in cloudy formalin.
• Zhao Yi fled the gallery in disgust, while Bo Yu joined Bo Yi in opening the canvases.
• Bo Yi used the Detector to search for the pair of eyes with the most energy as Bo Yu cut open more paintings.
• Zhao Wen Shan spotted black fog spreading toward the gallery and screamed a warning.

Bo Yi and Bo Yu searched the paintings for the clue while black mist closed in, and the Red-Eyed Doll secretly ate wisps of it. After “Zheng Rong” attacked the group, Bo Yi identified the correct pair of eyes and threw them to the girl doll.

• Bo Yi and Bo Yu continued searching the paintings as black mist spread through the gallery, while the Red-Eyed Doll used a Dissection Knife to gather and eat the mist.
• Bo Yu finished removing the canvases and helped the Zhao siblings hold back the doll guests as Bo Yi tested the remaining pairs of eyes.
• “Zheng Rong” attacked Zhao Wen Shan and wounded her, then fought Zhao Yi and revealed that he was not really Zheng Rong.
• “Zheng Rong” lunged for the eyes Bo Yi had tested, and Bo Yi announced they were the right answer before throwing them onto the girl doll’s lap.

The Girl Doll restored her eyes, recognized the fleeing Male Host, and led her servants and the other dolls after him. Bo Yi and the others escaped the instance, but Bo Yi discovered that a Red-Eyed Doll had come out with him.

• The Girl Doll retrieved her restored eyes, opened them, and came alive as the dolls gathered around her.
• The Girl Doll pointed at the fleeing Male Host, and the dolls rushed after him while she followed with her servants.
• Bo Yi urged the others to leave through the now-clear doors, and all four players escaped the instance.
• Bo Yi returned to the woods and found a Red-Eyed Doll clutching his Dissection Knife in his pocket.

Bo Yi returned to his laboratory with the red-eyed doll and learned that the institute was running short on research materials because the higher-ups were obstructing its work. After testing the doll, he met Mitian, the Evil God, who offered to take him to any instance he wanted so he could gather anomalies for research.

• Bo Yi returned empty-handed as researchers complained that the higher-ups were withholding funding and anomalies.
• Bo Yi strapped the red-eyed doll to an apparatus and activated it, causing the doll to break apart and reveal Mitian.
• Mitian introduced himself as the Evil God and proposed a partnership with Bo Yi.
• Mitian offered to take Bo Yi to any instance he chose, while Bo Yi would clear it and collect research materials himself.
• Bo Yi showed interest in the offer, and Mitian told him to take his pick of instances.

Bo Yi entered the high-level instance “Worship the Lady” after Mitian sent him through a door and found himself in a remote mountain village with Bo Yu. The village chief welcomed the university-student players and warned them not to interfere with preparations to worship the Lady, then reacted eagerly when one player said they wanted to learn about the ritual.

• Bo Yi arrived at a fog-shrouded mountain village and met Bo Yu, who warned him that the instance was high-level.
• Bo Yi discovered that the game had removed his anomaly-catching equipment before he entered the instance.
• The game announced the instance objective, “Worship the Lady,” and assigned the twelve players the role of university students researching local customs.
• The village chief led the players into the silent village and warned them to follow its rules while villagers prepared to worship the Lady.
• A player asked to learn about worshipping the Lady, and the chief stopped and asked whether they wanted to worship her too.

Bo Yi and the other players settled into their lodgings in an unfriendly mountain village and questioned a villager about its rules. The villager warned them to stay indoors at night and avoid the Back Mountain, while Bo Yi noticed something among the dusty objects in his room.

• The village chief led the players to three neighboring houses, then left without saying goodbye.
• Song Yunyi organized introductions and room assignments, and Bo Yi ended up sharing a house with Jiang Xiaofeng, Du Yong, and Xu Xiaoyang.
• Bo Yi found a sealed well in the courtyard and asked the villager why it was closed; the villager said its water was dirty.
• The villager warned the players not to leave their rooms at night or visit the Back Mountain, but allowed them to view the Lady's Temple from outside.
• Xu Xiaoyang asked which lady the village worshipped, and the villager angrily rebuked him.
• Bo Yi entered his shabby room and noticed something among the dusty objects on the table.

Bo Yi and the others explored the village, where the fixed stones formed a net-like pattern, then joined the village chief’s lunch. The fish balls served to the players contained a human fingernail.

• Bo Yi and Jiang Xiaofeng uncovered an empty shrine hidden beneath a black cloth.
• Bo Yi, Jiang Xiaofeng, Xu Xiaoyang, and another player searched the village but failed to speak with the villagers.
• Xu Xiaoyang kicked a stone, and Bo Yi realized the fixed stones formed a net-like pattern.
• Bo Yu and Chu Youyi told the group that the village chief had invited them to lunch.
• The village chief served fish balls, and a player found a human fingernail in one.

Bo Yi and the other players discovered that the village’s fish balls were made from fish that had eaten something disturbing, then investigated the Lady’s Temple and guarded graveyard. That night, Bo Yi eagerly waited for an aquatic monster, and fish crawling across the ground appeared outside his courtyard gate.

• Bo Yi calmly identified the fish balls as fish while the other players realized something foul had been mixed into them and vomited.
• Bo Yi asked Bo Yu whether her house had a sealed well, then explored the village with the other players.
• The players found the locked, neglected Lady’s Temple and saw armed villagers guarding the graveyard on Back Mountain.
• Bo Yu warned Bo Yi to be careful that night because he alone had avoided eating the fish balls.
• Bo Yi heard splashing from the sealed well, followed the sounds to the courtyard gate, and opened it to find fish crawling across the ground.

Bo Yi explained that he had caught and dissected one of the strange fish crawling outside the gate, while Xu Xiaoyang and the others investigated the blood on his bed. A scream from the neighboring courtyard led them to a player whose arms had been torn off.

• Xu Xiaoyang and Du Yong found blood and bloody handprints on Bo Yi’s bed, and Jiang Xiaofeng feared Bo Yi had been killed.
• Bo Yi returned wearing bloodstained clothes and explained that he had caught a fish outside the gate and dissected it in his room.
• Bo Yi said the fish had appeared ordinary apart from having an unusually large amount of blood.
• A player screamed from the neighboring courtyard, so Bo Yi, Xu Xiaoyang, Du Yong, and Jiang Xiaofeng rushed over.
• Xu Xiaoyang opened the room and found a player lying on his bed with both arms missing.

Bo Yi and Song Yunyi discovered a player’s mutilated corpse and witnessed villagers kill players who followed a silent funeral procession too closely. While the house’s owner was away, Bo Yi, Du Yong, and Xu Xiaoyang opened the sealed well and saw fish inside, but the returning owner insisted there were no fish.

• Bo Yi examined the armless player’s corpse as Song Yunyi reported that the dead player’s roommates had heard nothing during the night.
• Bo Yi and Song Yunyi followed drifting spirit money to a funeral procession, where villagers killed players who made a noise and followed too closely.
• Bo Yi returned to the house and opened its sealed well with Du Yong and Xu Xiaoyang while Jiang Xiaofeng went to hide elsewhere.
• Bo Yi and Xu Xiaoyang saw black fish swimming in the well, but the furious owner returned and claimed there were no fish.

Bo Yi confronted the homeowner over the fish in the well and used bloodied gloves to interrupt the attack, but discovered the homeowner was still poised to kill him. Bo Yi knocked the homeowner into the well and sealed it, though the homeowner later climbed back out.

• Bo Yi pointed out the fish in the well, but the fish vanished before the homeowner could see them.
• Xu Xiaoyang denied seeing anything and left the courtyard with Du Yong, abandoning Bo Yi.
• The homeowner advanced on Bo Yi with a blade fashioned from sheet metal and demanded that he admit there were no fish.
• Bo Yi showed the homeowner his bloodied gloves, which stopped him briefly, then dodged his blade and kicked him into the well.
• Bo Yi covered the well with a large rock and left with the gloves, but the homeowner eventually broke through the rocks and climbed out.

Bo Yi found the players compulsively eating fish balls at the village chief’s house and pulled Bo Yu away from them. Bo Yu explained that the food’s enticing smell had overwhelmed them, and she noticed her craving weakened in the direction of the Lady’s Temple.

• Bo Yi searched the empty street for Bo Yu and realized the players had gathered for lunch at the village chief’s house.
• Bo Yi saw the players ravenously eating fish balls and dragged Bo Yu away when she resisted leaving.
• Bo Yu regained her senses as they got farther from the village chief’s house and told Bo Yi that the smell at noon had made her feel compelled to eat.
• Bo Yi questioned Bo Yu about her lingering cravings and recorded her answers in a notebook.
• Bo Yu said her itch eased as she moved in a certain direction, and Bo Yi recognized that the Lady’s Temple stood that way.

Bo Yi and Bo Yu watched villagers enter the Lady’s Temple and discovered them restoring a severed arm with a strange liquid. Bo Yi recognized the homeowner he had buried in a well among the villagers, and the chapter left the arm looking freshly severed.

• Bo Yu told Bo Yi that she felt better and wanted to enter the Lady’s Temple, and they tried unsuccessfully to open its locked doors.
• Bo Yi heard villagers approaching from Back Mountain, and he and Bo Yu hid in the woods to watch them arrive with a wrapped object and a sealed iron bucket.
• Bo Yi recognized the homeowner he had buried in a well among the villagers and thought the man had glanced toward their hiding place with red light in his eyes.
• When the villagers left the temple doors ajar, Bo Yi and Bo Yu crept over and looked inside at the many-armed Lady statue.
• The villagers uncovered a severed, shriveled arm and coated it with liquid from the bucket, restoring it until it looked freshly cut from a person.

Bo Yi and Bo Yu witnessed a living arm crawl onto the Lady’s statue and discussed how the Maiden Statue suppressed Bo Yu’s appetite. That night, Jiang Xiaofeng entered Bo Yi’s room and bit his arm, while Xu Xiaoyang and Du Yong pounded on the locked door.

• Bo Yi and Bo Yu watched a living arm crawl onto the Lady’s statue, then left the temple before the villagers came out.
• Bo Yu recalled that seeing the Maiden Statue had suppressed her appetite, and Bo Yi noted the clue in his notebook.
• Xu Xiaoyang, Du Yong, and Jiang Xiaofeng returned without remembering their strange behavior at lunch, then watched Bo Yi leave with ravenous longing.
• Bo Yi woke to find Jiang Xiaofeng gripping his hand and staring at him hungrily as saliva dripped from his mouth.
• Xu Xiaoyang and Du Yong demanded that Bo Yi open the locked door, while Jiang Xiaofeng said he would not share and bit Bo Yi’s arm.